Blog hiatus

It's that time in the summer where I'm taking a short break from blogging to enjoy the beach.

So until the 13th, keep yourselves safe and amuse each other...

Checking in on 2019 Goals

Each year I write myself a letter outlining my goals for the year ahead.  Then sometime around the middle and at the end, I check in to see how I'm doing on achieving those goals.  So let's see how I did with my 2019 goals, ahead of setting some new ones for 2020.  The original letter is in black, my comments on how well I achieved those goals in purple.

Dear Me,

2018 was a crazy year and while I somehow managed to achieve most of what I set out to do, it feels like it was more by accident than by design.  So my first goal for 2019 is to plan ahead more.  Think about what might be coming up before committing to things and set aside time for the things I really want to do.

I didn't do this as well as I might have hoped.  I got better toward the end of the year, but I didn't start out that way and I think that's why I didn't do as well at achieving everything I wanted to during the year.

I have a book releasing on 1 February and I really want it to sell better than the last one.  So my first goal for the year is to figure out the best way to market this new book, and the other ones, to generate sales.  The subject matter for this one is less controversial than in Stumped, so hopefully that will help with sales, but getting reviews and getting them in the right places is crucial.

This one is a partial win.  Sales of The Sidewalk's Regrets aren't huge, but I have managed to get more reviews for it than for Stumped.  Unfortunately not all of them are as a positive as those for Stumped or An Unstill Life (which remains my most popular book for some reason), but negative reviews are just part and parcel of being a writer.  Overall though, the amount of work I had to put in to get those reviews was intense and I can't help feeling like the time I spent writing to book bloggers and reviewers, pitching my book, could have been better spent writing.

I would like to publish another book in 2019.  I have three that are very close to being ready to go, so I will endeavor to get at least one of these polished and ready to go out into the world.  And send it out.  If I'm lucky, I may even have all three ready to go out at some point during the year.

I didn't do this.  I have sent one book out to a new publisher, but am still waiting to hear back on that.  On the plus side, I now have more books near to being ready to send out.  I just have to decide what I really want to do with them as I really want to reach more readers than I'm currently able to reach.

I also have three or four manuscripts in various stages of completion that I would like to go back to and finish.  I'm not sure any of them are actually much good, but going back and re-reading them will let me know if there is anything worth salvaging in any of them.  And if there is, I will work to finish any of these I feel are worth the effort.

I have done this, and while I haven't got any of these 100% ready to go out yet, I have a priority list of MSs to work on in the New Year and notes from readers to work through on a couple of them to get them ready to go out.

At the moment I don't have any burning ideas for a new book, which is probably a good thing considering how many unfinished projects I have lying around.  But should something come up during the year, I will jump on that idea before it squirrels away again.  And I will write the hell out of that idea.

I did this during NaNo and while I haven't actually finished the book (I'm starting to sense a theme here) I did write 60K and figure there's only another 15K or so to write before I reach the end.  

I was pretty good with my exercising in 2018, so I want to keep that up.  And my weekday intermittent fasting too.  I even plan to buy some scales in the new year so I can keep track of my weight, rather than relying on how my clothes fit to tell me if I've gained or lost weight.  The goal is to lose at least 5kg by Easter.

I kept up with the exercising and fasting, but never lost that 5kg.  Or at least, I don't think I did.  I never bought any scales...  At this stage I feel like my body is just comfortable at this weight because it doesn't seem to matter what I do, I always end up one or two kilos either side of this weight.

And my final goal is to read more.  I'm not going to get my Goodreads reading goal in 2018, which tells me I'm not reading enough.  So I need to get on top of that.

I have done a lot of reading in 2019.  I'm struggling to reach the Goodreads goal, but am only a couple of books behind.  I figure if I do a lot of reading over the next couple of days I might get there...

So, there you have it.  My last year was a mixture of successes and failures in terms of my goals.  Tune in next week to see what my goals for 2020 might be...

Celebrate the Small Things 27-12-19

This post is part of Lexa Cain's blog hop, Celebrate the small things. Head on over there to sign up!

What am I celebrating this week?

Lots of things actually...

Christmas is over and we made it through the day without any major arguments or family feuds. Everyone seemed very happy with their gifts and even the younger kids didn't fight over presents.

On Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) my partner and I went mountain biking and I somehow (don't ask me how) managed to ride off a small bridge onto some rocks.  I lost a bit of skin from my arm and have some spectacular bruises and a cracked rib or two, but it could have been a whole lot worse!  Just keeping my fingers crossed I've healed up enough to get back on my bike when we get to the beach house next week.

So while my various bruises heal, I'm taking time out to read and write.  I'm supposed to be deep cleaning the house, but I may have to take that in small chunks because it hurts to bend over or reach up too high...  All the more time for the things I really want to do.

What are you celebrating this week?

Happy Holidays!

As it's Christmas here today, I just wanted to wish you all the best for the holidays and hope you have a wonderful time wherever and however you choose to celebrate.

Weekly Goals 23-12-19

I'm on holiday so goals feel like something I shouldn't really have right now.  But because it's that time in the week, I'll play.

This week's goals are to relax and enjoy myself.  To read a lot.  Sleep a lot.  Eat good food.  Do some writing if I feel like it (and I'd better feel like it - I have a Jan 4 deadline for a story I'm writing for an anthology and I only started it on Thursday).

So that's my week planned out.  What are your goals for this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 20-12-19

This post is part of Lexa Cain's blog hop, Celebrate the small things. Head on over there to sign up!

What am I celebrating this week?

Holidays!

Yes, I am now officially on holiday and have three long, blissful weeks in which I don't have to go to work.  I plan to do a lot of sleeping, eating, reading and writing.  And not a lot else.

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Read: Ship It

As I think I've mentioned before, fan fiction and the whole fan community thing is not something I'm really familiar with.  Although I think, if it had existed when I was growing up, I would have been right in there.  There's something about it that feels like it would have suited my slightly obsessive nature...

So I can't claim to be an expert on how these things work and how much of this book is real to that world and how much is fantasy or made up to make a more compelling story.  But I did enjoy reading this book, despite the main character, Claire, being kind of a pain in the ass.  She's an uber-fan of a TV show called Demon Heart and writes homo-erotic fan fiction about the two male leads.  Her fic is very popular within the Demon Heart fan community where there seem to be a lot of people willing to believe these two guys are only a wet-eyed glance away from falling into each other's arms (or beds).

Forest is the young actor who plays one half of the male duo Claire 'ships'.  Not a social media user, he's completely unaware there are people out there who are reading his character as anything other than 100% straight.  So when Claire brings up the question at a convention, he's flummoxed and reacts badly, lashing out at her for even bringing it up as a possibility.  

With a PR nightmare on their hands, the show's publicists leap into action to placate their small, but very important fan base.  And because Claire is an outspoken and popular member of the online fan community, she's selected to join the convention tour to try and win back the fan base that may have been lost by Forest's homophobic comments. Claire agrees, mainly because she's desperate to get to the show's creator, the only one who can make the fantasy she's spun about these characters a reality.

I liked that Claire was uncertain about her own sexuality throughout the book.  She meets a cute fan artist at the first convention and they keep meeting up.  Their attraction is mutual, but Tess is wholly comfortable with her sexuality and Claire still isn't sure where she sits on the spectrum.  This causes friction between them and more than a few misunderstandings.

Forest was an interesting character too as he learned about what it's like to be an actor on a popular show and have people making assumptions about you as a person based on a character you portray. His ineptitude with social media felt refreshing because it meant he was completely innocent of how the fans perceived him and his character.  Which lead to him making some big changes in himself, his plans for the future and the way he sees the world.

The lengths Claire is willing to go to to get what she wants are hilarious, and somewhat frightening.  Fandom can go too far, methinks...

I'd cautiously recommend this one.  I think if you're part of this community, you might find a lot wrong with the book and the way fandom is portrayed.  But not being part of the community, I didn't pick up on the inaccuracies (although bringing the cause of your PR nightmare on tour with you seems far-fetched to this marketing professional) and could just enjoy the ride.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

CLAIRE is a sixteen-year-old fangirl obsessed with the show Demon Heart. FOREST is an actor on Demon Heart who dreams of bigger roles. When the two meet at a local Comic-Con panel, it's a dream come true for Claire. Until the Q&A, that is, when Forest laughs off Claire's assertion that his character is gay.

Claire is devastated. After all, every last word of her super-popular fanfic revolves around the romance between Forest's character and his male frenemy. She can't believe her hero turned out to be a closed-minded jerk. Forest is mostly confused that anyone would think his character is gay. Because he's not. Definitely not.

Unfortunately for Demon Heart, when the video of the disastrous Q&A goes viral, the producers have a PR nightmare on their hands. In order to help bolster their image within the LGBTQ+ community-as well as with their fans-they hire Claire to join the cast for the rest of their publicity tour. What ensues is a series of colorful Comic-Con clashes between the fans and the show that lead Forest to question his assumptions about sexuality and help Claire come out of her shell. But how far will Claire go to make her ship canon? To what lengths will Forest go to stop her and protect his career? And will Claire ever get the guts to make a move on Tess, the very cute, extremely cool fanartist she keeps running into? Ship It is a funny, tender, and honest look at all the feels that come with being a fan.